1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to protective textile sleeves for providing protection to elongate members contained therein, and more particularly to a tool for fixing a protective textile sleeve to itself and/or to an elongate member extending therethrough.
2. Related Art
Protective textile sleeves for providing protection to elongate members extending therethrough are known. Typically, the protective sleeves are formed having one of a tubular wall with a circumferentially continuous wall; a wrappable wall with opposite lengthwise extending edges configured to be wrapped into overlapping relation with one another in “cigarette” fashion, or of an elongate spirally wrapped strip. Depending on the type of aforementioned wall and end use, a portion of the sleeve can be fixed to itself or the elongate member extending therethrough via separately applied wrapped tape or glue applied during installation. The use of tape to secure the sleeve in place has various drawbacks, as it is costly from a material and labor standpoint, and it can also prove unsightly if not applied correctly. Further, the externally applied tape must be inventoried and readily available during installation of the sleeve, otherwise the assembly process can be delayed, and further yet, the tape can become inadvertently damaged or ineffectively applied during assembly, such as by being inadvertently folded on itself or contaminated via dirty surroundings or hands during application, thus, adversely affecting the ability of the tape to reliably fix the sleeve in place for the duration of its useful life, as intended. Likewise, the application of separately applied glue during assembly is also costly from a material and labor standpoint, and further requires being inventoried and readily available during assembly of the sleeve, and can further add cost as a result of the need to provide drying time for the glue. In addition, glue typically lacks strength at elevated temperatures, and can prove messy in assembly, thereby leading to further cost associated with damage, repair and the necessary clean-up thereof, and can further have a degree of toxicity and/or odor. In addition to the aforementioned drawbacks, both known mechanisms discussed above can be time consuming in process, which ultimately adds cost to the process.